Fun with Headnotes

Have you ever read a headnote and thought it was funny, unique, or profound.? The editors at Westlaw realized that their Headnotes - part of the West KeyNumber System - can be particularly amusing and thought - provoking. As a result, Westlaw now offers the "Headnote of the Day," a subscription service the sends "especially humorous, profound, or interesting" headnotes to your email every morning. Westlaw however, does announce a caveat: These headnotes are meant only to be a diversion; that is, they may no longer represent good law. Always KeyCite or Shepardize to make sure that any law you want to cite is still good in your jurisdiction.

92 Constitutional Law

92XII Freedom of Travel and Movement

92k1280 k. In General.

Dog does not have fundamental right to travel.
City of Akron v. Tipton, 559 N.E.2d 1385 (1990)










If you are interested in subscribing to Westlaw Headnote of the Day, click here.

Happy Veterans Day!

The Law Library wishes to thank all of our service men and women for their current or past service in the United States military. Your dedication and valor are appreciated.

If you are a veteran, please stop by the reference desk for a sweet treat.

Library Now Open 24 Hours with Card Access

With exams on the horizon, the law library is now open 24 hours to law students with card access. Public patrons are able to use the library Mon-Fri 8:00am-8:00pm.

Please remember that there is still no food allowed in the library and please keep beverages in approved containers.

Save your Research and a Tree!

As we approach the end of the semester, many of you are busily researching and writing seminar papers. If your search is particularly fruitful, you may find yourself with a stack of law review articles, legislative histories, administrative rules, statutes, case law, and other resources. While you can always print out your results, don't forget that there are ways to save your research so that you can pause, eat (or sleep), and come back. This way, you can not only save your research trails, but you'll also be saving a tree.

For example, HeinOnline allows you to "bookmark" your results. Simply create a HeinOnline account, click on the "save/bookmark" link on the tool bar and follow the prompts.

Likewise, BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) uses folders to save searches, documents, charts, and other information. First, you must log into Preferences, and from an open document click on the "Add to my Folder" link on the tool bar. You will then be guided to a box that will give you the option of using a pre-existing folder or creating a new one. You can name your project and take notes on content.

Finally, CCH Intelliconnect also offers users a folder saving system. In CCH, you can park documents in the Document Tray for later access during a search session, or create a folder for future reference. To use the Document Tray, simply click in the check boxes next to the documents you want to save and then click on the "Send to Tray" link below the document. These documents will be purged at the end of the session. To save documents for multiple research sessions, you can use a "Research Folder." Simply click on the "Create a folder" link, type in the name of the folder, and click "Ok"  To save a document to your folder, click the save/email button, and then click "Save to Research Folder."

If you have any questions about these or other resources, come and see your reference librarians. We are here to help.

It's Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of Halloween, here are some spooky cases that will send shivers down your spine...

Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254
Mrs. Ackley owned a fabulous - and haunted - waterfront Victorian home. Not one to be undone by the presence of poltergeists, Mrs. Ackley told her friends, her neighbors, the media, and anyone who would listen that her house was haunted. The one person she did not tell was Mr. Stambovsky, the man who eventually bought her home. Upon discovering that he would be sharing the house with the dearly departed, he sued to rescind the contract. The court found that Mrs. Ackley's promotion of paranormal phenomenon required her to disclose the supernatural activity to the buyer. So, if you see a spook and shout it out, who you gonna call?
The buyer!

Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson, 983 F.2d 1066
Mr. and Mrs. Ferlito attended a costume party in homemade Halloween costumes. Mrs. Ferlito was the lovely Bo Peep and Mr. Ferlito was her lost little sheep. Tragedy ensued when Mr. Ferlito caught on fire after he lit a cigarette. The Ferlitos sued Johnson and Johnson on the ground that the cotton gauze used for the sheep costume was flamable; however, the court held for Johnson & Johnson based on the fact that the Ferlitos know that there was a flame hazard and that Mr. Ferlito was not paying attention when he lit the cigarette. Beware of smoking sheep...

Baribeau v. City of Minneapolis, 596 F.3d 465
Do zombies have constitutional rights? Sometimes. In Baribeau, a group of citizens contracted the disease of "mindless consumerism", causing them to turn into zombified versions of themselves. While the traditional method of dispatching zombies can be witnessed in several films (e.g. Dawn of the Dead and Zombieland), in Minneapolis the police opted for arrest and incarceration on the charge of disorderly conduct. The zombies brought suit, and the court found that the zombies were engaging in expressive conduct that did not give the police probable cause under the Minnesota disorderly conduct statue. So if you contract a zombie virus and you live in Minnesota, the police have to have probable cause before they arrest you....

Contribution by Miss Endia Sowers and Adrienne DeWitt

Spotlight on: Foreign Law Guide

So it happened. The moment you’ve dreaded – you’ve been tasked with locating the law and legislation of a foreign country. If you aren’t familiar with the legal landscape of that country, the task can be daunting. What will you do? One option is to turn to Reynolds and Flores’ Foreign Law Guide.

The Foreign Law Guide provides users access to information about the primary and secondary legal resources for over 170 countries. This information includes what those important legal resources are, where to find them, and how to use them. The Foreign Law Guide also provides users with web addresses to as many resources as possible. What does this mean for you, the researcher? This means the Guide will tell you where to locate civil, commercial, and criminal codes as well as session laws and court reports (just to name a few types of documentation) all while providing users with a link to those resources on the Internet if one is available.

The Foreign Law Guide also works to maintain a Subject Heading Index for each jurisdiction it covers. This means you can not only get an introduction to a jurisdiction’s legal history and judicial system, but you can also use the Subject Heading Index to locate the laws applicable to your specific subject.

If you have foreign law question, check out the Foreign Law Guide! You can locate it on the Law Library’s Electronic Resources page.